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SEPTEMBER 21, 2022
On July 28, World Conservation Day, Livable Hawai‘i
to Paikō Lagoon, a wildlife sanctuary that is home to en- dangered species such as the Hawaiian stilt.
such as Protect Kuli‘ou‘ou, also attempted to raise mon- ey for the acquisition.
ervation Zone parcels have a combined land area of 334.93 acres. LHKH raised $1.3 mil- lion to purchase those parcels from LevRed. LevRed then donated the balance of their ridge top land to LHKH. This includes a 3.5-acre residen- tial-zoned parcel requested by Kupaʻāina o Kuli‘ou‘ou to permanently preserve the area from development. KOK intends to convert the par- cel into a preservation site using $1.7 million from the City & County of Honolu- lu’s Clean Water and Natu- ral Lands Fund. KOK is ad- ditionally raising $120,000
for survey, taxes, insurance and conversion fees.
Kai Hui announced the pres- ervation of Paikō Ridge. The sale of the ridge to nonprofit groups marks the victory of a decadeslong effort to pro- tect the ridge’s unique histo- ry and ecology.
Over the years, there have been multiple attempts to develop Paikō Ridge. How- ever, community outcry re- sulted in the termination of these efforts.
Preservation efforts final- ly reached fruition this year. LHKH purchased the 335 acres of Paikō Ridge in a $3 million deal with previous owner LevRed Investors.
I’m proud to have stood with the community from my first days in office to pre- serve this treasure. I’d like to recognize Reilly for her hard work to overcome all the ob- stacles to this deal. Her lead- ership is the reason we can celebrate today.
Paikō Ridge is a mountain range located in East O‘ahu between Niu Valley and Ku- li‘ou‘ou. On the parcel are ancient Hawaiian cultural sites, including a unique rock wall that extends across the entire ridge.
Public acquisition of Paikō Ridge has been pro- posed multiple times over the years. When I served on the City Council in 2013, I fought for the city’s pur- chase of the undeveloped land on Paikō Ridge. The proposal passed through the
Livable Hawai‘i Kai Hui president Elizabeth Reilly and state Sen. Stanley Chang (right) at the announcement of the acquisition of Paikō Ridge.
PHOTO COURTESY THE OFFICE OF STATE SEN. STANLEY CHANG
council. However, it stalled in 2017 with the establish- ment of new legal require- ments. Other organizations,
Elizabeth Reilly, president of LHKH, states, “We appre- ciate the environmental stew- ardship of LevRed, which afforded this conservation success story.”
Contact state Sen. Stan- ley Chang (D-9 — Hawai‘i Kai, Kuli‘ou‘ou Niu, ‘Āina Haina, Wai‘alae-Kāhala and Diamond Head) at 808-586- 8420 or senchang@capitol. hawaii.gov.
Paikō Ridge lies adjacent
The portion of Paikō Ridge now protected by LHKH con- sists of three parcels. The Res- idential Zone (R10) and Pres-
STATE SEN. STANLEY CHANG
East O‘ahu’s Mountain Range Is Forever Protected
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